Alexidia solitaria, Groll, 2025

Alexidia solitaria sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:237D02EA-01BB-4B94-9EAA-F2181F24BE55

Figs 1A–B View Fig , 12–13 View Fig View Fig , 93C View Fig

Diagnosis

Body length: 1.74 mm. Dark wine-brown; legs lighter; tarsi and posterior laterals of elytra yellow; very shining. Somewhat flattened in lateral view. Sutural, basal, and lateral striae joined. Antennomere IX distinctly enlarged. Spermatheca C-shaped. Gonostylus short.

Etymology

The species epithet is a Latin word meaning ‘alone’, because the single known specimen was collected alone.

Material examined

Holotype

BRAZIL • ♀ *; Minas Gerais, Viçosa, Recanto das Cigarras ( Mata da Biol. ); 20 Nov. 2019; Labcol leg.; “Fungo 14 / Dissecado em 07 Oct. 2022 /”; CELC. Lacking the “ HOLOTYPUS ♀ ” label.

Description

COLOURATION. Dark wine-brown; frons, coxae, femora and tibiae lighter ( Fig. 12A–C View Fig ). Antennae, tarsi, posterior laterals of elytra, propygidium and pygidium yellow ( Fig. 12A–H View Fig ).

HEAD. Frons smooth, sparsely pubescent, devoid of punctures; one fovea above each eye ( Fig. 12E View Fig ). Clypeus longer than wide ( Fig. 12E View Fig ). Labrum rounded apically ( Fig. 12E View Fig ). Antennomere VIII sinuate ( Fig. 12F View Fig ); antennomere proportions (n= 1): I missing: II 106/39:III 66/18: IV 94/16: V 109/18:VI 94/20: VII 108/35:VIII 88/22:IX 124/38: X 112/42: XI 119/46.

PROTHORAX. Smooth, lacking microsculpture ( Fig. 12A–D, G View Fig ). Pronotum not strongly curved in lateral view ( Fig. 12B View Fig ); punctation very fine; pubescence somewhat dense; posterior angles not trespassing mesenepisternum ( Fig. 12B View Fig ). Hypomeron poorly pubescent ( Fig. 12D View Fig ).

MESOTHORAX ( Fig. 12B–D View Fig ). Lacking microsculpture. Mesoventral line oblique. Secondary lines absent ( Fig. 12D View Fig ). Mesepimeron short and oblique ( Fig. 12D View Fig ).

METATHORAX ( Fig. 12B–D View Fig ). Metaventrite smooth, lacking punctures, and sparsely pubescent. Submesocoxal lines punctate; submesocoxal area length: 0.05 mm. Metanepisternum mostly covered by elytra. Metepimeron distinct, smooth.

WINGS ( Fig. 12A–D, G–H View Fig ). Elytra wider anteriorly; shining, lacking microsculpture, finely punctate, and moderately pubescent. Sutural striae joined to basal, and then, to the lateral – distinctly punctate ( Fig. 12A–B View Fig ). Epipleura impunctate ( Fig. 12D View Fig ).

LEGS ( Fig. 12B–D View Fig ). Pro- and mesofemora with sparse and coarse punctures. Femora narrow. Meso- and metatibiae bearing a long apical spine.

ABDOMEN ( Fig. 12B–D, H View Fig ). Ventrite I impunctate, shining; primary setae present. Tergite VI with micropuncture and sparsely pubescent.

TERMINALIA. Ventrite VIII with a triangular projection ( Fig. 13A View Fig ); tergite VIII straight posteriorly ( Fig. 13B View Fig ) – both microsculptured. Bursa copulatrix spinose ( Fig. 13C–D View Fig ). Spermatheca large, C-shaped; spermathecal duct filiform ( Fig. 13C View Fig ). Distal gonocoxite thick on posterior area, arcuate ( Fig. 13C–D View Fig ). Gonostylus very short ( Fig. 13C–D View Fig ).

MEASUREMENTS (n=1, holotype). TL 1.70, SY 0.22, HW 0.44, IS 0.22, WA 0.15, PL 0.65, PA 0.50, PB 1.10, EI 1.16, EL 1.26, EW 0.53, EH 0.50, MB 0.11, MC 0.40, ML 0.05, VL 0.50, VL2 0.31, PrF 0.47, PrT 0.34, MsF 0.48, MsT 0.42, MtF 0.55, MtT 0.53.

Host

Collected from an undetermined young orange-white fungus/myxomycete on a decaying tree ( Fig. 93C View Fig ).

Remarks

The morphology is similar to that of A. convivalis sp. nov. but can be distinguished by the longer, wider, and more flattened body shape. The elytra present a distinct colouration on the posterior laterals and the adsutural area is not distinctly wide at the posterior ⅔. The antennomeres are thicker than those of A. convivalis . Regarding the female genitalia, the spermatheca of A. solitaria sp. nov. is larger and not entirely twisted, the distal gonocoxite is more curved, and the gonostylus is shorter than in A. convivalis .

Distribution

Mata da Biologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, campus of Viçosa, state of Minas Gerais, Southeast Brazil ( Fig. 1A–D View Fig ).